This invention relates to electrical connectors and specifically to connectors commonly referred to as jacks. More specifically, this invention relates to jacks adapted for connection and mounting on a printed circuit board. In a still more specific aspect, this invention relates to a multifunction jack assembly for a printed circuit board.
In the prior art, jacks were designed for mounting on a printed circuit board to facilitate the connection of external apparatus to the printed circuit via a plug which was inserted into the jack. In the telephone communications industry, for example, test apparatus could be plugged into a printed circuit board jack to test a line, trunk, or miscellaneous circuit located thereon. In the case of line and trunk circuits, it is desirable to first determine if a customer is using the circuit before the circuit is interrupted for testing. This was accomplished in the prior art through the use of separate monitor and test jacks. More specifically, by inserting the test apparatus plug into the monitor jack, maintenance personnel could bridge onto the tip and ring transmission conductors of a line or trunk circuit and monitor for the presence of speech without interrupting a busy connection. If the circuit was found to be idle, the test equipment was then plugged into the test jack which divorced the line or trunk circuit from the tip and ring transmission conductors for test purposes.
While the prior art arrangement is wholly suitable for its intended purposes, it requires the use of multiple jacks with the accompanying increase in cost and space utilization.